Carolyn Rafaelian, Founder of Alex and Ani, on How to Wear Stackable Jewelry

Bangle bracelets Make a 'Statement Vibration,' With Sound, Movement and Visual Balance

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Carolyn Rafaelian, chief executive of jewelry label Alex and Ani, demonstrates how to wear multiple bracelets. She can comfortably wear seven or eight on a wrist.
Bob O'Connor for The Wall Street Journal

A piece of jewelry doesn't have to make the same statement over and over. It can prove far more versatile when paired with several others for a personalized effect.

"It's not just a look—you're also creating a little statement vibration," says Carolyn Rafaelian, founder, creative director and chief executive of the jewelry label Alex and Ani. "It defines you when you meet someone for the first time—it offers another layer of what you're like."

Ms. Rafaelian, who launched the line named for her two daughters in 2004, says she believes there are generally no rules when stacking jewelry pieces. But there are a few tricks she uses repeatedly: She often sparks up tennis bracelets and other traditional pieces by wearing them with more unusual pieces.

She also likes to work a piece with personal meaning into the mix. "My father passed away a couple of years ago, and he had a bracelet that he wore for as long as I could remember," Ms. Rafaelian says. The bracelet, a precious gold piece with a chunky serpentine-link motif, is a little bit masculine, she says. "When I wear it, I'm literally feeling a piece of him that's always with me—and that gets layered into my own look."

To offset its chunky, mannish look, Ms. Rafaelian often pairs the piece with multiple thin bracelets. The key to successful stacking of jewelry is noting the balance and ensuring that the pieces move well together, she says. "When your arms are moving, look at how the pieces all fall."

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She stacks chunky and thin bracelets that move well together.
Bob O'Connor for The Wall Street Journal

If one piece is rather thick, it is best to make that the main statement. "I would do thin bangles with a cuff," Ms. Rafaelian says, noting that the cuff stays in place while the thinner pieces fly up and down the wrist, creating a "little peekaboo effect." She likes mixing and matching disparate items: She is fine with mixing metals, as well as working in wood and other materials.

With bracelets, Ms. Rafaelian steers clear of stacking precious pieces, noting that stacked bracelets can sometimes rub stones the wrong way or loosen up. "These things move and touch each other and they can open up a clasp," she says.

She can comfortably wear as many as seven or eight bracelets on a wrist, she says. "I'd do a ratio of seven thin bangles to one thick one."

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Ms. Rafaelian says as many as eight bracelets can be worn comfortably on a wrist.
Bob O'Connor for The Wall Street Journal

For necklaces, Ms. Rafaelian says, it is best to go with a smaller number. "Three would be the limit, because you're eventually going to have a tangling problem," she says.

It works best if the different necklaces are of different lengths, Ms. Rafaelian says, "so they're hitting each other in the right places and not jumbled up in the same place." She sometimes likes to have a "nice thick chain that is 16 inches long, and then a longer, thinner one that's 30 to 32 inches. It's a beautiful look," she adds. "If you have a longer chain that's hitting past the cleavage area, it has a long and sexy feel."

When it comes to rings, "there are people who can wear rings on all fingers and pull them off," Ms. Rafaelian says. But this look may be too much for most, especially in an office setting. "Personally, I like to load up one finger with multiple rings," she says. It's important to know when to stop, though. "When it reaches the fold of your knuckle, you're done," she says

Ms. Rafaelian likes to wear rings in pairs of different looks. "I love wearing a band along with a ring that has a motif that dangles—it just gives it some movement," she says.

She has no problem with mixing metals in a stacked look. "Copper peeking through silver is very pretty," she says. "But if you're going for more of a subdued or cleaner look, just concentrate on one color."

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A mix of metals can look pretty in a stack of bracelets, Ms. Rafaelian says.
Bob O'Connor for The Wall Street Journal

When aiming for a striking look, it is important to pick a single statement, she says. "If your statement is in your outfit, then keep it there, make your jewelry complementary to that," Ms. Rafaelian says. This is especially important to observe in a conservative office setting, where the stacked jewelry look might work best for just the hand, neck or at the wrist, instead of two or three areas.

Another consideration is the noise all those pieces make when you move. "If you have big chunky wooden bangles and they're constantly clunking together, that can be very distracting," Ms. Rafaelian says. Consider how the items feel as well. "If you're spending all sorts of time fixing it, that's really not what you should be thinking about when you have something on."

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